A journalist in Tanzania was killed on Sunday after he was reportedly struck by a gas canister at an opposition rally.
TV journalist, Daudi Mwangosi worked for Channel Ten, and was covering the opening of an office belonging to the Chadema cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Party for Democracy and Progress) in Nyolo.
Another journalist on the scene, Radio One’s Renatus Mutabuzi, reported: “Police started to use teargas canisters, one of which hit the Channel Ten journalist who was about 100 metres from the new Chadema office where people had gathered to witness the launch. His stomach was ripped open and I believe that he died on the spot.”
Mwangosi, who was chairman of the press club in the city of Iringa, was reported to have confronted police officers over the arrest of fellow reporter, Godfrey Mushi from the Nipashe newspaper.
Mushi told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he had been beaten and detained for taking photographs of the demonstration, before being released two hours later.
Mwangosi became the second person to be killed in two weeks of clashes between police forces and Chadema supporters, after Ally Zona lost his life at a demonstration on August 27.
Secretary general of Chadema, Willibrod Slaa told reporters that the party would continue to operate, despite a government decree that political activities must not be held until after the conclusion of a national population and housing census.
“We are going to conduct our rallies as planned, come what may... if they want to kill us, let them go ahead and kill us,” he said.
CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator, Mohamed Keita said: "We condemn the killing of Daudi Mwangosi, who witnesses say lost his life while defending a fellow reporter at a news event. Preliminary statements show police have pre-judged this case, but with the abundance of photographic evidence and eyewitness testimony, we expect the Tanzanian government to set aside such preconceptions, undertake an immediate, independent investigation, and bring the perpetrators to justice."
Source: The Citizen, CPJ
